It had to be Fate
by Bloody Winged
Summary: Roy tries to finally win Ed for himself. But he hadn’t thought about the cruel fate of Friday the 13th... - Roy/Ed


Title: It had to be Fate

Pairing: Roy/Ed

Warnings: humor, fluff

Word Count: 7599

Summary: Roy tries to finally win Ed for himself. But he hadn't thought about the cruel fate of Friday the 13th...

Timeline: after the series, the movie never existed though. Ed stayed in Amestris with Al restored

Spoilers: some for the end of series

Authors Note: mayracs wished for a fluffy valentinsday fic and I couldn't refuse her. And as I was hunting for a plotbunny little_shibi pointed out that today was Friday the 13th... And well... things went from there... XD So... Here is your valentinesday fic sweety ^^ *huggles you close* I hope you'll like it^^ *throws kisses*

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It had to be Fate

Roy watched Fullmetal saunter through the office, trying to get away from his own load of work while Hawkeye was out for a few minutes. Ever since the teen had _really_ joined the military ranks three years ago after he had finally managed to restore his brother, he had learned why Roy hated doing his paperwork this much. In fact, Hawkeye often proclaimed the both of them seemed to have conspired against her, trying to make a challenge out of who could make the mountain of paperwork on his desk grow higher before she finally snapped.

Roy always snorted in that dignified way that was meant to say 'as if I would do such a childish thing', trying to taunt the blond teen just as much as telling her that it was simple their shared hatred for paperwork. It really wasn't any conspiracy against her. Really, it wasn't. Well... at least not all of the time.

At least in his thoughts he had to admit that he and Ed quite often just looked up over their mountains at each other, grinning and simply stopped doing anything paperwork related. Most of the time they ended up discussing this or that about alchemy, but it didn't matter. Fact was they never run out of topics to discuss if it was for the sake of avoiding their paperwork.

Hearing steps outside of the office door he looked back down at the report he was meant to read and sign, trying to avoid the blonde's sharpshooters wrath for the moment. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ed hurrying across the room to his own desk, trying to look as if he had worked the whole time she was away.

Really, getting promoted to Lieutenant Colonel had done wonders to Ed. He had mellowed in some areas and matured in some others. He was less likely to just explode into a rant if there was something he didn't like and after finally hitting a growth spurt when he turned seventeen and being only mere four inches shorter than Roy now he wasn't reacting to short-jokes anymore either. Really, teasing him was still fun, but Roy had learned that he had to be more subtle about it now, that he needed more finesse to really get to the other alchemist.

As both Elrics came back from their last struggle, having returned Al to his body, he really had thought that Ed would come in to hand in his resignation. To his – and to most of the office – great surprise, Ed had said that he intended to stay in the military. That while he didn't agree with the way things were run right now, he wanted to help and make them better. And that he really couldn't see himself in any other job at that point.

So he had stayed, with the condition that he would stay under Mustang's command. He never admitted it to the blackhaired man, but Roy knew that he had earned quite a bit of respect from the blond during the conversation they had had before they both went to fight for their goals. That and Fullmetal seemed to finally have realized that no-one other than Roy would let him have this much free reign. They never spoke about it, but they both knew the other knew and that was ok so. They didn't need to say it to know it was there between them.

Honestly, Roy didn't know what he would have done if Ed hadn't come back after that fight was over. With his revenge out of the way, he had felt... restless. He wasn't sure then if it really was his place to return, to admit to the military what he had done and why. But while he was still in the hospital, thinking about what he should do, Ed had come to visit him.

They had talked for some hours, both of them relating what had happened while they were apart. But as Roy had carefully asked at the end if Ed intended to return to Rizembool now that they had reached their goal, the blond had told him that he wanted to stay. That he wanted to help make a difference within the military.

After all was said and done the top brass had decided that what Roy had done was the right thing, even though they didn't like the way he had gone about it. He had been able to return to his rank of Brigadier General which he hadn't had all that long yet and that was better than he had expected.

Fullmetal also got questioned and after he had turned in everything he thought was important without saying anything about the way he and Al were involved on a personal level, he even had gotten a promotion out of it for freeing the country from a dangerous threat. Also it was decided that he and Roy should be responsible for the alchemy department of the military, which only ensured that they could continue to work together, even though they hadn't even requested it back then. Seeing that Ed had been hunted for assumed treason only a couple of weeks before that really was a big step in the right direction.

And now, nearly three years later, they were still working together. Roy had gotten promoted to Major General by now, even though he still thought it wasn't really completely fair. He had gotten his promotion for sorting out some of the dark corners in the military. For looking at all their state alchemists and deciding if they really earned the title. Only... it hadn't all been him. While Roy had looked into the military from all it's angles, Fullmetal had done most the work on the state alchemists. Had observed them and interviewed them and looked into their research. He had challenged them and tested them on their mental stability.

The blackhaired man could still remember that time very well. Ed had come into the office every day after everyone else had already gone home and sat down on his desk to write a report on what he had learned that day. Writing up recommondations as for what he thought would be best and generally working until late in the night, refusing to take the older mans help as he offered it to him, saying that he had his own workload to deal with and that he should rather see to it that he finished that on time for a change.

Hearing a subtle but unmistakably harsh cough right beside him he looked guiltily up, finding Hawkeye standing right beside him.

"I don't doubt that the dream that you were having just now must have been very fascinating, Sir, but I would rather you would have it after you finish you work here and have gone home." she said rather pointedly, putting another pile of paperwork down on his desk right in front of him. Faintly he could make out the sound of a repressed chuckle from across the room where Ed's desk was standing, but he refused to look up and glare at the blond – that would only make him look as if he was trying to blame Ed on this reprimant. Though, to be honest, in a way he *was* responsible for it, Roy thought.

Going back to work for a while, his thoughts didn't take all that long before they wandered off again. He thought that he heard Hawkeye sigh as she noticed, but she didn't say anything this time.

Back as it was first suggested that Ed should put his desk also in his office since he didn't have all that much experience in dealing with that side of military matters yet, Roy had doubted that it would go over all that well. After all, even though they had learned that they could talk with each other, they had a history of always bantering and taunting each other. Though amazingly enough, no-one else seemed to have the same doubts that the arrangement would work out – and it actually did. The first few weeks may have been a bit rough as they worked on adjusting to each other, but after they managed to smooth the worst edges over it actually went pretty well.

Roy came to see over the next months how Fullmetal gradually changed. The anxiety that had always been in him as he was younger and still searching for a way to restore his brother was gone and it was slowly getting replaced by a dedicated and focused but reasonable side. He wasn't as on edge as he had been before, learning to give as good as he got without throwing a tantrum or starting to rant. Roy also feared that quite some of his sarcasm had found its way into Ed's newly developed personality.

They were evenly matched in nearly everything they did. And if they weren't, they usually complimented each other. That was why even after Ed had started to get the gist of what work needed to be done and how, he stayed in the office with Roy and the others. They never spoke about it, but they both knew about it.

That was another thing that was new between them. This _knowing_. Most of the time they didn't need to say anything to each other, they just _knew_ what the other was thinking. It was... kind of scary at the same time as it was comforting. Roy never had something like that before. He suspected that it was at least similar to the comunication between Ed and Al, so maybe it was something that just came natural when one was around Edward for long. Though no-one other than he seemed to be able to just know things about the blond.

Which brought him to his next thought. Where was this understanding for each other coming from? Their easy friendship? Because he could argue until he was blue, but over the last three years they had definitely gotten to be friends. Maybe it had taken it's time, but by now it wasn't all that uncommon that he would be invited for dinner with the Elrics or that he would invite them. It still wasn't something they did regulary, but it happened – and they usually all had a pretty good time.

It had been about four months ago that he finally had figured it out. Together with quite a few other things. He had had invited the brothers for dinner once again, but only Ed had shown up, telling him that Al wasn't feeling all that well and that he didn't want to keep them from having a good time. That actually was the first time the two of them had spent time completely alone that wasn't work-related. At first he had thought it would be awkward, but they had fallen into their usual banter easily enough.

Dinner hadn't been quite finished as Ed had arrived and so the blond had helped him with the rest of it. They had worked together in the kitchen as if they had done it for years, easily manoevering around each other while talking about simple things, their live outside of the military and sharing some of the lighter stories of their pasts and present.

Roy still thought that Ed hadn't noticed anymore than he had when they had drifted into deeper, more emotional territory with their conversation after a while. They had moved away from the dinner table to the livingroom and shared some drinks, still talking while sitting on opposite sides of the couch. Usually they both tended to avoid talking about how they felt, or how they dealt with their dark pasts. And with Al there it usually was easy enough to stay away from those topics. But they actually had opened up to each other that night.

It had been... cathartic. To finally let all his feelings out and to have someone there who understood them. And he thought that Ed had felt the same way about it. They had still been talking when his phone rang suddenly and he remembered that they had both jumped somewhat, surprised by it. He didn't get all that many calls to his house.

It had turned out to be Al, who had gotten concerned that Ed still hadn't come back. They usually didn't stay longer than two or three hours at most at Roy's house and it was nearly one in the morning by then. Roy had reassured the younger Elric that all was well and then suggested that Ed should stay the night instead of going home that late.

He was surprised that Ed had actually agreed, though at the same time, he wasn't. Something had changed that night, they both knew it. They only couldn't admit to it quite yet.

Ed had stayed in his guestroom that night and they had gone to work together the next day. Once there it was like nothing had changed at first. Though after a while he had noticed that he often stole glances at the blond without really knowing that he did so and catching himself doing so. But he also noticed that he wasn't the only one. Maybe Ed was a bit more subtle about it, but Roy managed to catch him doing it once or twice himself.

But that wasn't the only thing that changed. Over the course of the next few weeks there more subtle changes. A teasing grin, a wink, a shared knowing look... really, it was kind of embarrassing to know that it had taken him this long to realize that they both were flirting with each other. Once he realized he was doing it however he didn't even think about stopping it. Maybe it was the ease with which they were doing it, but it was comfortable. And once he had the opportunity to analyze his feelings he realized that he had been feeling more than just simple friendship for Ed for quite some time now.

It was after he came to that realization when he came up for his plans for the next day. They had been flirting with each other for four months now, it was time to take this to the next stage. He had made reservations for them in one of the better restaurants Central had to offer and had it arranged that there would be a delivery to the Elrics apartment sometime around noon the next day,

After thinking about it for quite some time he had decided that Ed would kill him if he actually would buy him flowers, but he may be more inclined to accept chocolate. After all, he never had lost his sweet tooth. So he had it arranged with his favorite confectioner that there would be a house delivery for the blond in form of his alchemy symbol, his flamel, made out of eight different layers of chocolate – eight for the number of years they had known each other now. He thought that maybe Ed would appreciate something like that. At least he hoped so, since he had had nearly a stroke as he got to know the price for it. But he stil thought Ed was worth it.

Roy was still thinking about a good moment to ask Ed out the next evening when his phone was ringing. Sighing in a melodramatic way he rolled his eyes and picked it up, preparing for some more work and blissfully ignoring the slightly evil chuckle that came from Ed. Really, the blond was out for blood today. It was his luck that Roy liked him too much to just burn him into a heap of ash.

"Major General Mustang speaking."

"Major General Mustang, report ASAP to the office of General Ganor. There is a situation." he was told in the clipped voice he was used to from the Generals secretary.

"Understood." he replied and hung up again before sighing and standing up.

Seeing Hawkeyes and Fullmetals gaze on him he straightened.

"I have to go. There is a situation."

They both nodded, knowing all that implied. Ed stood up to go to Roy's desk, taking his position for the moment. While it wasn't something any other high ranking officer would accept, they both had found it a good solution. Whenever Roy wasn't available Ed would take over the command of the office. And it didn't take them long to see that it was easier to get outsiders to accept that fact when he answered Roy's phone personally or sat on his desk when they came in. And Roy knew he could trust his judgement, that never has been in question.

~*~*~

Fuming inwardly, Roy came back into the office. One look at him and Ed stood up without questioning him and went back to his own desk, knowing that now wouldn't be a good time to make any smartass comment. He really had matured these last few years.

Sitting back down at his desk, Roy set down the pile of reports he had just gotten. This would take forever to go through, but it was a necessary evil. There had been some accident in an alchemy laborant about one day journay northwest from Central and since he and Ed were the ones in charge of the alchemy department, investigating all the facts around it fell in their lap. Especially since it was suspected that it wasn't just a simple accident. Knowing that there were some dangerours materials that had gotten researched in that lab, it had to be handled with the utmost caution. Which meant that they would both have to work late today and probably come in tomorrow. If they were really out of luck they would even need to travel there to look at the site, though he suspected that Ed alone would be enough to do that.

What made him so angry however, was the fact that this completely messed with his plans. He didn't care if he had to stay late today, but coming in tomorrow was a whole other matter.

Sighing he resigned himself to his fate and the fact that there wasn't anything he could do about it right now and settled for the hope that since tomorrow would be a Saturday, they probably would be at least alone in the office. Also he hoped that he could get the management of the restaurant to set their reservations at a slightly later time, so that they would make it even if they stayed a bit longer in the office than he thought they would. It maybe wouldn't be necessary, but right now this really felt as something was cursed and he didn't want to take any chances.

Cursed... curses... there was something he was missing, he was sure of it. But it didn't want to come back to him, and right now he didn't have any time to ponder it anymore.

Finishing with sorting out the pile of reports he sat back and held them out for Ed.

"These are for you, Fullmetal. It was an alchemical accident." he told him.

They didn't speak about what the accident really was about at all. Ed knew just as much as he that this was confidential material and while _they_ knew that they could trust the others in the office, anyone learning that they talked about confidential material in the open like that would report them in.

So Ed just nodded, got up and took the reports from Roy to look through, heaving a sigh as he obviously came to the same conclusion as the older man that this would take quite a while.

Just snorting in answer to show his own displeasure, the blackhaired man started to read through the first report.

~*~*~

It was about nine o'clock when the phone rang again. The two alchemists were the only ones left in the office any longer and they looked up at the sound, warily locking gazes before glaring at Roy's phone.

"Aren't you going to answer that, Mustang?" the younger of the two said after the third ring and finally Roy could manage to convince his fingers that no, burning the phone wouldn't be a good idea at all, and answered the phone.

"Major General Mustang speaking."

"I'm so sorry to call you at work, Major General, but I couldn't reach you at your home. This is Mr. Carolli, the confectioner you assigned for the valentins chocolate. I hate to tell you this, but one of my students just tripped with you chocolate and it's beyond repair. There is no way we'll finish it again until tomorrow."

Roy resisted the urge to scream and instead just rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, trying to find some patience within him. This man wasn't at fault here. It wasn't his fault that his day was cursed.

"I should have known that it was bad to do some extra work on a Friday the 13th, but I never really believed in it before. Again, I'm so sorry to have to disappoint you." the man continued.

At the mention of Friday the 13th Roy groaned somewhat. It only was a dumb superstition, but hadn't he already thought that this day was cursed? Seemed like there actually was a reason as for why.

"It is ok, Mr. Carolli. This wasn't your fault and I won't hold it against you. I appreciate it that you took the time to let me know in advance." he said before the man could apologize once again. "I wish you a good night."

The man apologized once again before also wishing him goodbye and they both hung up.

"Mr. Carolli? Isn't that your favorite confectioner? The one with the fantastic chocolate?" Ed nosily asked from across the room. Roy nodded.

"That's the man." he simply confirmed, not telling anything else. He knew that Ed wouldn't ask any more questions. The teen had matured enough to accept that there may be some things he simply didn't want to tell. And he didn't want the blond to think anything wrong, which he probably would if Roy didn't come right out and told him that the chocolate was intended for him.

So they simply continued to work on their respective reports.

~*~*~

It was over two hours later when the two of them decided to go home for the night and just come back early the next day. While they both looked and felt as if they could use a drink, they knew it wasn't a good idea to go to a bar now – they would never make it to work early the next day. And neither of them intended to spend the entire weekend in the office. They both wished the other a good night and left for their respective homes.

It was nearly midnight by the time Roy finally reached his house, thanking his lucky stars that there weren't any more accidents and that this cursed day was nearly over. But even while he thought that he jogged up the wooden frontstairs and feeling one of them giving, making him stumble and fall. A sharp pain shot through his ankle and he cursed out loud, Maybe he shouldn't have thought that.

Sitting up he gingerly pulled off his right boot, probing his ankle, sighing in relief a minute later. While it hurt like a bitch, it was only sprained, not broken. But it wasn't any less annoying.

Biting his lip he pulled himself up on his feet, trying to shift all his weight to his left foot. Then he hobbled up the stairs and pulled out his keys, openening the front door.

Or better, trying to open his frontdoor.

The lock obviously wasn't cooperating with him and after he ran out of patience and tried it with more force, the key snapped. Not wanting to belief that this was really happening, Roy stared at the broken key in disbelief.

"This damn day is trying to kill me." he murmured while searching in this pockets for the chalk he always kept there. At least as an alchemist he didn't necessary need keys to open a door for him.

Fishing it out of his pocket he felt the first raindrop fall on his head.

"That can't be." he told himself, firmly convinced that he _had_ to have imagined that. But before he could even think about it more it was pouring down at him, making the chalk pretty much useless.

"Ok, that's it. I've had enough."

Lifting his hand with a dark frown on his hand Roy used the array on the back of his hand to melt the lock. While the gloves were useless to create a spark wet as they were now, the array still worked just fine.

Pushing the door open after the lock finally melted enough for that he limped into the hall, closing the door as good as possible behind him. He would have to repair that lock in a bit, but first he needed to see after his ankle.

~*~*~

He was back ten minutes later, having applied some cooling gel to his ankle and bandaged it with a supporting bandage. That had to be enough.

Quickly he repaired the lock on his door before looking in the direction of his kitchen. He really didn't have any appetite. And with his luck right now he probably would burn everything he made anyway, even though it was past midnight by now. So he decided to go to bed right away, hoping that the next day wouldn't turn out to be the same disaster this one had.

~*~*~

As he let himself into the office the next day around seven o'clock he was surprised to see Ed already there.

Repressing the yawn that threatened to overtake him he blinked at the younger alchemist, still not really awake, getting a smug grin in return. Sure, they had said they would start early, but in his opinion seven am was really more than early enought on a Saturday.

"You're late." he was told, feeling as if he was in a bad movie. Wasn't that usually _his_ line?

"I already made some coffee – you look as if you could use some. Go ahead and serve yourself." Ed added before going back to working on the report laying before him on his desk.

Roy blinked at him for a second longer before shaking his head and deciding that he really needed some more coffee if he wanted to be productive.

~*~*~

Two cups of coffee later he felt much more like himself and the both of them had started to work in companionable silence, both trying to finish as soon as possible.

The first few hours passed fast, and Roy still didn't have a clue when he should ask Ed about the evening he had planned. He got his opportunity soon enough however.

Nearing the time they usually made their lunch break, Ed stood up, stretching and trying to ignore the eyes that watched him doing it with another one of those smug grins on his face.

"I'm going to see if there is something edible offered at the canteen today. You want to join me?" he asked.

Having thought about a break himself already, Roy gladly agreed, standing up and wincing slightly as he put too much weight on his ankle – he had forgotten about that accident. Ed – of course – noticed it.

"Is something wrong?" he inquired as he walked over to the older mans desk. Roy gave him a small smile.

"Nothing bad. One of my frontsteps broke yesterday and I sprained my ankle somewhat. It'll be better in a few days." he explained. He didn't add that he had nearly fallen down the steps this morning as he had stepped out of the house, still half asleep and completely forgetting about the broken step.

Ed winced in sympathy.

"If you want I can fetch you something to eat and we'll eat here. This way you won't have to put any more strain on that bad ankle than necessary." he offered, receiving a smile in return.

"I would really appreciate that, thank you." Roy told him before sitting back down into the chair again. Ed just nodded and went to get their lunch, leaving the older man behind and not seeing the wide grin on the other alchemist's face. He might haven't noticed that the tips of his ears had turned red as he offered Roy to get him lunch, but the blackhaired man had. And it only gave him all the more reason why he should ask Ed about dinner right when he came back.

~*~*~

It didn't take more than ten minutes until Ed was back, carrying two plates of something that might have been spaghetti if one wanted to be generous, but it looked more like a big, brown, heap. With other words, typical canteen food.

Giving Roy one of the plates and noticing the crinkling of the older mans nose, the younger alchemist grinned.

"Yeah, that's how I looked about two minutes ago too as I saw it. However, this is the only food they have today, so it's either take it or leave it. And given the day we have today I doubt we would be able to get something to eat anywhere else."

Roy had to agree with him there. He only had gotten the reservation at that restaurant because of his rank. If he had been just another no-one he would have needed to make them months ago and not only a mere weeks ago.

Sighing he reluctantly lifted his fork.

"Well, let's hope then that this is edible." he said, hearing Ed laugh.

They ate in silence for a few minutes while they both tried to get down their lunch. After he was about halfway done, Roy set his fork aside, having had enough. Crossing his hands before his face he put his chin on them and watched the blond until he was sure he had his attention.

"Would you like to go out with me to dinner tonight, Edward?" he asked bluntly, watching in some amusement as the others cheeks tinted slightly pink. After thinking it over for some time he had decided that the best thing would be to just be honest. Ed always hated his long drawn-out games of puzzles. Just telling him what he wanted would be the best thing to ensure he got what he hoped to get.

"I... would like that." the blond answered after a while, still blushing slightly. He knew that Roy didn't mean that they would just go out as friends. After all, he was it who had just mentioned what day it was, even if he had done it indirectly. And he also must know that Roy had planned to ask him out. There was nothing like spontaneity on Valentines Day when it came to eating out.

Roy smiled at him.

"Then let's finish up here so that we get out in time, shall we?" he asked, receiving just a small nod as answer. Ed obviously was still flustered, but the older man didn't mind. He knew that the younger alchemist would recover in no time and honestly, he found it kind of cute to see the blond this... _bashful_. Though he probalby should never tell him that if he wished to live for a while longer.

~*~*~

It was half past four as they finally finished with the reports. As it looked right now, it wouldn't be necessary for anyone of them to go on site directly – they would just send someone directly. The order had already gone out.

Cleaning his desk, Roy noticed that Ed was standing before him, already finished with clearing his own. He looked... nervous. Roy smiled slightly.

"Let's go." he suggested, watching Ed nod in answer.

Before they had to part ways Roy looked at the younger Alchemist again.

"Is it ok when I pick you up at six?" he asked and finally saw Ed really looking at him for the first time in hours. While the blond was still blushing somewhat, he seemed to get his nerves together.

"That would be great, yeah." he answered before his gaze turned slightly worried.

"Will you be ok going home on your own? Is your ankle really ok?" he inquired, making Roy feel warmed at his concern.

"I'll be ok. I came here this morning on my own too. As long as I don't put too much weight on that ankle I have no problem walking." the darkhaired man explained, receifing a reliefed look in response.

"Good. I'll see you at six then!" Ed repeated and turned around, running off in the direction of the apartment he shared with Al, leaving Roy looking after him with a fond look. No matter how much he had matured and grown – physically as well as mentally – the blond still was a joy to watch. Roy didn't know any other grown men who would dignify just running off and pulling it off as excitement. But Fullmetal could do it and look mature at the same time.

Shaking his head, Roy went on his way home. He still had to shower and change before he had to pick Ed up and he didn't want to be late.

~*~*~

Two mintues before six found Roy standing outside the Elrics apartment. He had had to hurry slightly since he had decided against driving – his ankle hurt when put in such a position so he had decided it would be safer to just walk, not that he thought that Ed would have anything against it – but he still was in time.

The door swung open mere seconds after he had knocked and before he had a chance to say anything, Ed had rushed out, calling "I'll go now, Al!" in the apartment before slaming the door closed behind him, not waiting for his brother to answer or saying when he would be back. Then he just took Roy's arm and pulled him with him, probably wanting to get away before Al came to the door and inquire anything further.

Only after they reached the street in front of the apartment building the brothers lived in did he look at Roy.

"Uhm... where are we going?" he asked, looking somewhat shy again now that they were away from his nosy brother and – as he probably only now realized – on a date. Roy smirked and shifted somewhat so that they would be able to walk more comfortable while still staying in contact with each other. It always was a bit tricky if you wanted to go out with another man. Holding hands seemed so... _childish_ and linking arms had the potencial of looking as if one of both would take the more female role – something Roy doubted would either of them want.

"To that restaurant you've been talking about you wanted to try for the last few months." he said smoothly, knowing Ed would realize which one he meant. And he wasn't disappointed. Ed looked at him with wide eyes.

"How did you manage to get reservations for that one? It's booked out weeks in advance – and that is for a normal weekday dinner."

Roy just grinned, pleased that his surprise was a success.

"It wasn't all that hard at all. You're forgetting whom you're going to dinner with." he replied, getting a slight push into his side for that.

"Arrogant Bastard." the blond muttered, but he had a pleased grin on his face.

"Shrimp." Roy contered smoothly, getting another slap for that, but he didn't mind. Ed's stiff posture had somewhat eased with their banter, and that was what Roy really had intended with it. He didn't want Ed to be uncomfortable while they where on a date together. Scratch that, he didn't want him to be uncomfortable while they were together at all.

They walked the rest of the way to the restaurant while talking to each other about different things. It nearly was as if Ed simply had come over for dinner instead of them going out to a fanzy restaurant on Valentines Day.

As they arrived there, they both frowned. Something was obviously wrong here. There were people leaving the restaurant, which wasn't all that unusual, but the amount of people was. And as they came to the entrance they saw that one of the empoyees just went to lock the door.

"Excuse me? We have reservations now. Could you please explain to me why you're closing already?" Roy asked, trying not to scream. Seems like his bad luck from the day before had carried over after all.

"I'm terrible sorry, Mister. But our chef found that there was a bad delivery with the food and we can't give our guests that to eat. So we have to close for the evening. I hope you understand." the employee explained.

"That is ok." Ed said even before Roy could answer. Obviously he had picked up on the fact that right now Roy only wanted to scream at someone and wanted to spare the man this fate, seeing that he wasn't responsible for what had happened.

"Come on, Roy. We just go and pick something up somewhere else." Ed told him, trying to keep him calm. It struck the older man as funny somewhat, that Ed, the Fullmetal alchemist, also known for his infamous temper, tried to keep _him_ calm. Him, the Flame alchemist, who was also called the ice alchemist, simply because of his infinite calm.

Only after they were about a block away from the restaurant stopped the younger of the two, looking at the blackhaired man.

"Geeze, Roy. Keep it together. It's not like things like that can't happen. It was dumb luck that it happened today of all days, but it's not like they were trying to ruin our evening. And I was serious. We may won't be able to get into another restaurant, but we can pick up some dinner somewhere and just have a nice evening at your house or something. It's not like it matters _what_ we do together. What's important is that we have a good time together."

The last he had said a bit more quiet as the rest, clearly not all that comfortable talking about the fact that they were on a date yet. But he had a point, Roy had to admit that. Only...

"I don't know if we should continue this tonight. There is just something out to get me. Someone or something obviously doesn't want that I spent today with you any other than at work." the older Alchemist said at last.

Ed lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Roy? Don't you think you are… exaggerating somewhat? This could have happened to anyone." he said at last.

The blackhaired man just shook his head.

"It's not only that. At first I got the call yesterday that we would have to work today, ruining the plans I already had for the afternoon. Then the confectioner calls me and lets me know that my present for you got destroyed with no time to remake it. Then I sprain my ankle on my way up to my frontdoor and my key breaks before I can even _open_ said door. And to top it of it started to rain the second I pulled out my chalk to open the lock through alchemy, making it practically useless. And now this."

He shot a somewhat desperate gaze to the younger Alchemist.

"Tell me Ed, do you _really_ think this is still coincidence? Don't you think this sounds like someone or something is out to get me? I don't believe on some higher being as an alchemist, you should know that, but with all that coming together I'm starting to."

Ed had listened to Roy tell him about everything that has gone wrong since yesterday and while he _had_ to admit that this was a bit much to be simple coincidence, he couldn't help himself – he laughed, earning himself a deadly glare from the older man.

"Great. And now my date is laughing at me. I _really_ should have stayed at home today." Roy groused, nearly pouting.

Ed just took his hand, still laughing, and pulled the taller man with him.

"Come on you big baby. If you tell me you actually let all this get to you I'll start asking myself if you really wanted to have this date with me." The blond grinned at him, his eyes glimmering mischievous. Of course he knew that Roy had meant everything this date had implied – they had been dancing around the issue for months now after all – but he couldn't help but teasing the older man.

Roy tried to look dignified while he was actually pouting and failing miserable, only making Ed laugh harder. But he followed the blond without protest. He was, however, somewhat surprised as the younger Alchemist led him to the park a few blocks away.

Noticing his puzzled expression, Ed just squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

"Just trust me with this one." he told him and Roy just followed him without any protest – until they came to the hotdog booth.

"You can't mean that." the blackhaired man said, clearly baffled. Switching his mental gears from first class restaurant to hotdog booth... that wasn't exactly what he had expected. Though... come to think of it... what _had_ he expected? This was Ed after all.

But Ed had already gone ahead and bought two hotdogs, leading the taller man to a bench further in the park where they could eat their hotdogs without getting disturbed.

Sitting down beside the younger Alchemist Roy just stared at his hotdog for a minute before lifting his gaze to the blond beside him who just grinned at him.

"You have to admit that this is a rather... unusual Valentines date." Roy said at last, but Ed just shrugged.

"Does it matter? I mean, it's not like we are all that common ourselves. We are both highly recognized Alchemists. We are so different in some points it isn't even funny and nearly the same in others. We have so many points that would speak against us being together – and even knowing that we're both willing to take this chance. So why should we have a conventional date? It would be like pretending to be in another world where we don't belong. Sure, it would have been nice, but it's not what's important."

Ed had gotten serious again as he said that and Roy had to admit that he had a point. Nodding he showed the blond that he had gotten the message.

They were sitting beside each other for a while, both not saying anything and just staring at the food in their hands. Until Ed suddenly held his hotdog right before Roy's mouth, grinning.

"Want to feed each other?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows and obviously trying to lighten the mood again.

Roy looked at him as if he had grown another head for a second before grinning back and taking a bite, holding his own hotdog out to the blond.

The feeding bit actually turned out to be more complicated than the both had thought it would be, because only a few minutes later they were laughing like mad, both of them having mustard all around their mouths and on their jackets. They both had dressed to go out – and they hadn't taken that into consideration as they started their little game. But neither of them cared at this point.

After they finished with the hotdogs, they just chuckled for a few more minutes, smiling at each other. Then suddenly Roy's gaze softened and he lifted his, by now gloveless, hand – they had both pulled off their gloves as they came to the last bites; it just proofed to be too messy otherwise – to Ed's face and wiped some of the mustard away. Their gazes locked then before he could retreat his hand again and Ed turned his head slightly, softly sucking Roy's thumb into his mouth, never breaking their eyecontact.

Roy's breath hitched in his throat then, feeling his heart speed up as his gaze darted down to the ful, teasing mouth. He watched the younger Alchemists tongue dart out and play with his finger. Quickly losing any self restraint that he might previously had had he leaned in, stopping only inches with his face away from the blond's and finally retreating his finger.

Only when Ed's eyes fluttered shut and he tilted his head slightly did the older Alchemist close the gasp between them to their first kiss.

It wasn't anything spectacular. While they both could feel the heat that was coming from the other, this kiss was more about love than passion. There was no question about the fact that there _would_ be more later. But for now they were both content to just sit there on that bench in the midst of a more or less deserted park, kissing each other with slow and languid motions.

Maybe it wasn't the perfect date Roy had imagined. Maybe it wasn't all that comfortable on that bench and maybe there were people nearby that had problems with two guys kissing.

But all that didn't matter. Because when it came right down to it, all that _really_ mattered was what they were feeling.

And right now they were both feeling happy.

And pretty much in love.

END!!! *dies* XD


End file.
